Many conventional electronic devices consist of a main component, such as a motherboard, and additional supporting components, such as storage devices and input/output devices. In general, the supporting components for such electronic devices are connected to the main component using a receptacle-type connector assembly system. In some devices, the main and supporting components of the electronic device will each be designed with a male connector having a plurality of electrical contacts or pins within. A cable with female connectors corresponding to the male connectors is then provided to span the physical gap between the main component and the supporting component. For example, ribbon cables are commonly used in computing devices, such as handheld, laptop, and desktop computers.
As the demand for portable electronic devices has increased, the need for reducing weight and space requirements of such devices has also increased. Accordingly, in an effort to reduce the amount of space needed for the portable electronic device, many electronic device designs have been modified by eliminating the need for cables. In particular, the male connector on either the main component or the supporting component has been replaced in many devices with a female connector to allow the supporting component to be directly connected to the main component. Unfortunately, many types of electronic devices use supporting components designed and manufactured according to standardized configurations, such as data hard disc drives. As a result, electronic device designers must generally design the main component of an electronic device to accommodate connection of the standardized component. This can represent a challenge for designers, as standardized configurations are typically difficult to integrate into many types of portable device designs.